panopticon
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of panopticon
1760–70; pan- + Greek optikón sight, seeing (neuter of optikós; see optic)
Explanation
If your school is designed as a panopticon, it means that if you stand in the middle of the building, you can see every single classroom. Use the noun panopticon to talk about a circular building — especially a prison with cells distributed around a central surveillance station. Eighteenth century philosopher Jeremy Bentham dreamed up the idea and was kind enough to bequeath us the word as well, from the Greek pan, or "all," and optikon, "of or for sight."
Vocabulary lists containing panopticon
Common Senses: Op, Ops, Opt ("Sight")
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For National Pancake Day, Words With the Greek Roots "Pan-"
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A Very Large Expanse of Sea
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We discuss the panopticon, the lack of walls and how it forces better boundaries.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 13, 2025
Yet its very existence also points to a way out of this panopticon.
From Slate • Dec. 12, 2023
It was built in 1877 in the form of a panopticon, giving a central guardhouse a clear view to all corners of the "wheel".
From BBC • Jun. 24, 2023
Classic views of surveillance envision a prison state – a Big Brother-esque panopticon where a guard in a tower can watch prisoners in cells but the prisoners in the cells cannot see into the tower.
From Salon • Feb. 5, 2022
After another exhilarating day at the panopticon I collapsed onto the couch.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
